Budget cuts taxes in Saratoga Springs

The City Council Tuesday adopted a $37 million general fund budget for 2012 that cuts property taxes by nearly one percent, but it delayed a vote on building a new parking deck.

The council unanimously backed Finance Commissioner Kenneth Ivins’ proposed amendments to his Comprehensive Budget. The spending plan will reduce property taxes by an average estimate of .81 percent, or $8.06 for the owner of property assessed at $200,000, Ivins said. The budget includes no job cuts or big-cost initiatives.

Ivins had originally proposed a Comprehensive Budget that carried a half-percent property tx hike, but he said that recent economic news encouraged him to increase his 2012 revenue projections and expected savings in health care costs.

But the council declined to take action on financing a proposed $4.7 million parking deck that would be built on Woodlawn Avenue, a block away from Broadway. Mayor Scott Johnson postponed planned votes on moving the project to the city’s 2011 Capital Budget from its 2012 Capital Budget and borrowing $2.58 million of the $3.7 million that the city would contribute toward the project. Those votes will be held Dec. 6, he said.

The parking deck would contain 327 spaces and be built on a city-owned parking lot with 147 existing spaces. Ivins and Johnson have said they want to amend the 2011 Capital Budget to include the parking garage so the project can be expedited and built by July. They and business leaders argue that the garage will bring more shoppers and tax receipts.

“The goal is not interfere with a tight timeline,” Johnson said Tuesday. A third level of parking could be added to the garage in the future, which would bring the structure to about 500 spots, he said.

Bids on the project will be opened Monday. Chris Mathiesen and Michele Madigan, two Democrats who come onto the council in January, have urged patience on the project.